Club America has not yet recovered from its elimination in three championships last season,
Club America midfielder Alan Cervantes acknowledged Tuesday that the team is still struggling to recover emotionally from its elimination from the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Club America midfielder Alan Cervantes acknowledged Tuesday that the team is still struggling to recover emotionally from its elimination from the Concacaf Champions Cup and its defeat in the final from the Clausura tournament and for losing our ticket to the Club World Cup.
"It's hit us emotionally because of what we couldn't achieve last semester. It hasn't been easy. We spent the holidays thinking about what we could have achieved, but we're confident that we'll be protagonists again; it's just a matter of time," the player said at a press conference.
Cervantes pointed out that the memory that haunts the group the most is that the defeats in the crucial matches were due to minor aspects that they paid dearly for.
"We lost those matches because of small details, specifically because of set plays. That's why we had a bad time during the holidays thinking about that." Now comes a new motivation to achieve great things, he added.
Last semester in the Concacaf Champions Cup, the Eagles lost against Cruz Azul in the quarterfinals, in the dispute for the local league title they fell in the final against Toluca and in the match for the last ticket to the 2025 Club World Cup they were surpassed by Los Angeles FC of the MLS.
For Alan Cervantes, the most complicated thing for the Apertura, which started last weekend, will be to return to the style that made them dominate Mexican soccer with three consecutive league titles between the Apertura 2023 and the Apertura 2024, something that he is confident his coach, the Brazilian, will achieve Andr Jardine.
"We mustn't be predictable. In world football, the team that becomes predictable is at a disadvantage. We can't fall into that trap. Coach Andr is a specialist in giving us options so we can always fight for top spots and championships," he explained.
The first big challenge in this climb, according to the 27-year-old midfielder, will be to overcome Toluca, the team that beat them in the league, in the Campeon de Campeones match that will take place next Sunday at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
"We have an obligation to get this Campeon de Campeones title, it's revenge for us," he concluded.
Before facing Toluca, America will host Tijuana this Wednesday in the second round of the Apertura.